Cardinals' Carlos Martinez agrees to five-year contract extension

— -- The St. Louis Cardinals and pitcher Carlos Martinez have agreed to a record $51 million, five-year contract extension, ESPN has confirmed.

The previous record for a first-time arbitration eligible pitcher was established by Cleveland's Corey Kluber when he signed a five-year, $38.5 million deal in April 2015.

The Cardinals have made a habit of locking up their best young talent to multi-year deals early in their careers in order to buy out arbitration and free agency years. They cut similar agreements in recent springs with Kolten Wong and Matt Carpenter.

Martinez, 25, had a 3.04 ERA in 31 starts for the Cardinals last season, emerging as the team's No. 1 starter in an off season for longtime ace Adam Wainwright. An All-Star in 2015, Martinez has a 3.32 ERA in four major league seasons.

Martinez, the late Jose Fernandez, Noah Syndergaard and Aaron Sanchez were the only qualified major league pitchers under 25 to have sub-3.50 ERAs last season.

"I love it here," Martinez told ESPN.com last season while standing in the Busch Stadium home dugout. "I want to stay here all my life."

Until Wednesday, the Cardinals had indicated publicly they were heading to an arbitration hearing with both Martinez and Michael Wacha, who remains their only unsigned arbitration-eligible players. Martinez's hearing was scheduled for Feb. 8.